"Continue the progress in Quezon City," Belmonte said after hearing Mass at the Good Shepherd Church in Regalado, Fairview.
After the Mass, the "SB performance team" held a motorcade followed by rallies from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. with President Arroyo proclaiming the official candidates of the administration party.
Belmonte, who is seeking his second term as chief executive of Quezon City, was accompanied by his running mate Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista and four congressional candidates — Berna Romulo Puyat (1st district), Mary Ann Susano (2nd district), lawyer Matias Defensor (3rd district), and re-electionist Rep. Nanette Castelo Daza (4th district).
Also joining the SB team were candidates for the city council, namely: Victor Ferrer Jr., Elizabeth Delarmente, Bernadette Herrera-Dy, Rommel Abesamis, Joseph Juico and Martin Diño for District 1; Aiko Melendez, Godofredo Voltaire Liban III, Ramon Medalla, Eric Medina, Allan Butch Castilo and Winston Castelo for District 2;
Dante de Guzman, Wencerom Benedict Lagumbay, Diorella Sotto, Jorge Banal Jr., Jaime Borres, and Cristina Monasterio for District 3; and Antonio Inton, Alma Montilla, Resty Malangen, Edgar Delfinado, Edcel Lagman Jr. and Bayani Hipol for District 4.
Belmonte, who was named most outstanding city mayor of the Philippines, has vowed to transform Quezon City into a quality community even as he successfully turned the city into government’s model for effective and responsible leadership.
When he assumed his post, the city government was in financial distress, confronted with claims for payment amounting to over P1.4 billion and a bank debt of P1.25 billion.
Through effective fiscal management, the city has been declared by the Commission on Audit as the richest in the country as general funds reached more than P5.4 billion with bank savings of more than P3 billion.
In terms of performance, the city government has significantly improved public health, education and welfare assistance while implemented much needed infrastructure projects, including schools, health centers, concreting of roads and creation of public parks.
The SB team vowed to fully address the pressing problem of poverty that confronts half of the city population.
"In a city where half of the residents are poor, poverty alleviation assumes the urgency of life and death situation. Improving the plight of the poor will be our focus," Belmonte said.
After the Mass, Atienza had a mini-proclamation rally at Plaza Miranda where he introduced his partymates.
The mayor said he and his group decided to start the campaign at Quiapo Church, the parish of the city. He is also a devotee of the Black Nazarene.
The mayor noted that Plaza Miranda and the Lacson underpass were two areas redeveloped under his adminsitration’s Buhayin ang Maynila program. Both areas used to be reminders of Manila’s decay in the late 1990s.
He noted that the first day of the campaign period for local elections coincided with the Day of the Unborn Child. Before its redevelopment, Plaza Miranda was full of vendors selling abortifacients.
Instead of mudslinging and offering false hopes to voters, Atienza said his LP-Buhayin ang Maynila ticket would focus on performance and good local governance that resulted in positive changes.
The LP candidates for the six congressional seats in Manila are incumbent Rep. Ernesto Nieva (1st district); Marlon Lacson (2st district); Miles Roces (3rd district); incumbent Rep. Rudy Bacani (4th district); Kim Atenza (5th district) and Sandy Ocampo (6th district).
LP has 36 candidates for the city council. On the other hand, Lopez said their party would fight graft and corruption in Manila.
Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco Jr., Northern Police District director, said no election-related incidents were reported.
Franco added that with the peaceful and orderly start of the campaigning, he is hoping the electoral exercise in the northern metropolis would also end peacefully.
But while the start of campaigning was peaceful, traffic in main roads in the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela) area was heavy.
Heavy traffic was monitored in Caloocan City, C-3 Road, Dagat-Dagatan Avenue to Letre Road, the Monumento area, C-4 Road in Malabon to Navotas, as well as the MacArthur Highway going to Valenzuela,.
While other candidates were kicking off their campaign with motorcades, incumbent Caloocan City Mayor Reynaldo Malonzo, who is running for the city’s first district congressional seat, supervised the official opening and blessing of his three major projects.
The President Diosdado Macapagal Memorial Medical Center was formally opened to the public yesterday as well as the Judicial Complex on 10th Avenue and the Toll Parking and Commercial Complex infront of the City Hall. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Pete Laude